Gambling Among Young People, 837 kB

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Children’s and young people’s perceptions of gambling Results from studies conducted in the UK and Canada based on interviews and questionnaires with children and adolescents aged between 11 and 16 are presented below. The terms behind gambling, i.e. that it is chance that determines the outcome, the difference between chance and probability, the actual possibility of winning and the importance of skill in gambling, these are all concepts that are difficult for children and adolescents to grasp and distinguish between. probability, fate, luck, chance It is difficult to distinguish between the concepts of probability, fate, luck and chance. Interviews indicate that children and adolescents use these terms as synonyms. They may for example say that winning or losing has to do with fate. Most adults understand the difference between these terms cognitively speaking, and while they can be drawn into the game and “forget” the rationality behind it, children and adolescents simply have not learnt the difference yet which means that the fundamental terms behind gambling remain unclear to them (26). skill Children and adolescents tend to overestimate the importance of ability and skill in gambling; boys to a larger extent than girls (30). They believe, for instance, that if you practise, you can become a good gambler and similarly if you lose, then you are a bad gambler. <strong>Gambling</strong> reminds them of other types of games that they have been used to playing from a young age and which they can actually become good at, for example flipper or TV and computer games. This means that it is logical for them to believe that gambling works in the same way. 17
18 the possibility of winning Children and adolescents, above all boys, tend to overestimate the possibility of winning. If the chance of winning a certain game is one in five hundred, younger children may think that this means that you can win five hundred times, or that you can win five hundred crowns. Children think that a reimbursement rate of 75 per cent, i.e. that the gamblers on average lose 25 per cent of the stakes, means that you can win 75 times more money or that you can win 75 times. <strong>Young</strong>er children also seem to think that the chance of winning is greater if the winnings are high (26, 30, 31). magical thoughts Gamblers, both young and old, tend to indulge in magical thoughts when they gamble. They might for example think to themselves that: “If I think of my lucky number, the wheel will stop on it”. The concept “magical thoughts” refers to the propensity of young children to attribute occurrences and reasons why things happen to them selves. Most adults understand that they cannot influence the outcome of the game through their thoughts or through superstitious behaviour, but for many children and adolescents it is still natural to believe that you can influence your surroundings in this way (26, 30). the illusion of control The illusion of control entails a gambler believing that he/she, rather then chance, is in control of the game. The difference between the illusion of control and magical thoughts is that the latter has to do with influencing the outcome through your thoughts and superstitions, while the latter has to do with believing in your ability to manipulate the game through various tricks. This might mean that you believe that you can throw a six with the dice if you throw it loosely rather than hard. Children and adolescents seem to have a fairly realistic view about not being able to control the game, the more so the older they get. Despite this, they tend to “forget” this when they are gambling. When they are gambling, a majority say that they are able to influence the game in a number of ways. This applies above all to when they are playing on fruit machines and particularly to those adolescents who regularly play on fruit machines (30). Differences between the gambling habits of girls and boys Separate analyses of girls and boys are included in most studies on the gambling of young people. The results indicate without exception that boys and girls in the Western world differ markedly as regards their gambling habits. Boys start gambling at a younger age and thereafter gamble more often and for longer periods than girls. This also applies to Swedish and Norwegian boys. The CAN school study from 2005 indicates that no girls in the ninth grade said that they gambled as regularly as several times a week on any game, while for each type of game there were a couple of per cent of boys who said that they played several times a week (4–10, 12, 19, 31–37). Moreover, girls and boys tend to choose to put their money on different types of games. On the whole, boys tend to gamble on riskier games, such as putting bets on sports, while girls go for lotteries (4, 14, 33). This also applies to Swedish adolescents where boys choose sports games like Oddset and Stryktipset as well as games on the Internet to a greater extent than girls (17–19). Summary Studies from Western countries indicate that gambling is a common activity among children and young people; 60–90 per cent of young people in Europe, Australia and North America have at some time or other bet money on a game. However, young people still gamble far less than adults, and even if most have tried, relatively few gamble on a regular basis. In North America gambling among young
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Page 5 and 6: 6. Prevention _____________________
Page 7 and 8: 6 Summary In 2001, the Swedish Nati
Page 9 and 10: 8 Background Adolescent Swedes gamb
Page 11 and 12: 10 Definitions what is meant by gam
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Page 15 and 16: 14 Introduction Most surveys on the
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Page 49 and 50: 48 Introduction By prevention the a
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Page 55 and 56: 54 Appendix Table 1. A list of the
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